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15 Things You Didn't Know About WWE's Enzo & Cass

Okay, let’s start by getting a few things out of the way - like what we do know about Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady. They’re bona-fide Gs. They’re certified studs. They’re the realest guys in the room. They aren’t S-A-W-F-T.

In all seriousness, Enzo and Cass have been tearing it up as a tag team since 2013. They were trailblazers in NXT, proving their proficiency on the mic in an era when not every new debut was super polished and ready to cut such great promos. The fans at Full Sail University would recite every last word the two men uttered, right down to the “how ya doin’?”

It seemed all but inevitable that the raucous tag team would get called up to WWE’s main roster. That finally happened in April, right around WrestleMania season. Unlike a lot of past NXT stars, including tag teams (remember The Ascension?), Enzo and Cass weren’t buried. They were given the same opportunities to shine, now with main roster talent.

And shine they have. Whether as a stable (Carmella was a part of their group for a while before the boys were called up to the main roster and then drafted to Raw; Carmella would get called up months later and put on SmackDown) or just a twosome, Enzo and Cass have emerged as one of the most genuinely entertaining tag teams and gifted mic performers since The New Age Outlaws or The Rock ‘n' Sock Connection.

Do you know all there is about these two or are you just a hata?

15 Enzo and Cass Have Yet to Win Tag Team Gold

via dailywrestlingnews.com

For all the rousing success the duo experienced during their three years in NXT, they never once actually held the promotion’s gold. They came very close to upending the various tag team champions numerous times, yet just when it seemed like Enzo and Cass would come away with the win, they’d fall short.

They have yet to hold WWE tag team gold, but we hope that when that day finally arrives, they'll be champions for a long, long time. At the very least, they prove that championships aren't everything.

14 Big Cass and Carmella Are a Real-Life Item

via dailymotion.com

Storylines translate to real-life love affairs all the time in wrestling. There must be something about working with an attractive person of the opposite sex to get those feelings started. Just look at Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, Rusev and Lana, and even Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella, all of whom started dating in real life because of a storyline. Cass and Carmella are no exception.

Instead of hiding their relationship, the two flaunted their love on the NXT documentary series Breaking Ground. While we’re sure it’s tough for the couple to maintain their love long distance since Cass was called up to WWE first and now the two are on different shows, they somehow make it work.

13 Enzo’s Not Single, Either

via youtube.com

Enzo might talk in a way that’s suggesting that he’s trying to pick up the ladies, but that’s just part of his character. In reality, he’s been in a long-term relationship for well, a long time. Although he doesn’t admit who the lucky woman is or exactly how long they’ve been seeing one another, Amore has made it clear that he’s very much off the market. Sorry, ladies.

12 They Were Almost a Tag Team from the Beginning

via enzo-amore.com

Maybe you didn’t watch NXT transition from a reality-based show to one that showcases developmental talent. Perhaps you did and you just can’t remember Enzo and Cass ever wrestling outside of their tag team endeavors. Well, actually, they did have singles careers, but both were incredibly short-lived.

Cass debuted first in 2013, taking on Mason Ryan (a Bastista lookalike who never fared well). He lost. So did Enzo when he fought Ryan. That was all it took for their tag team bond to begin. From there, the two rose in the ranks to become the Smacktalk Skywalkers they are today.

11 But Enzo’s Two Injuries Could Have Ended That

via independent.co.uk

Cass has been healthy for the duration of his time with NXT and WWE, but as for Enzo? That’s a different story. The two have admitted that the forces that be did seem to want to split them up, and the first occasion that could have happened was in late 2013 (less than a year after the formation of the team). A bum leg kept Enzo out of action from November of that year until mid-summer 2014. Cass was kind of waiting in the wings for the return of his buddy, but it just as easily could have been the end.

Then, much more infamously, Enzo recently was involved in a botched dive at this year’s Payback. Time stopped, as did the match. Although the injury looked ugly, the doctors diagnosed Amore with little more than a concussion. He still had to take about a month off, but this time there was no question that he and Cass would remain a tag team upon Enzo’s return.

10 Maybe That’s Because He Was Relatively Green Until a Few Years Ago

via enzo-amore.com

In its infancy, a lot of the wrestlers on NXT had worked their entire lives to get to that point, training and hoping to land in Florida. More recently, NXT talent has been plucked from other major wrestling organizations like NJPW or TNA. What these wrestlers all have in common is they know how to wrestle going in. They used NXT to improve, but they had the basics down pat.

Not so much for Enzo. He had spent years training in the ring, but having an actual wrestling match? Fuggedaboutit. Seriously. Enzo just happened to be at DeFranco’s Training System at the same time as Triple H, and that’s how he got his tryout. Why such a late start? Perhaps because…

9 Enzo Never Planned to Be a Wrestler

via wwe.com

It wasn’t that Enzo wasn’t athletic; growing up, he was a serious football player, serious enough to get to college and still play. However, he didn't spend his childhood watching Hulk Hogan and wanting to be the next big star in the ring. He had other aspirations. He had once managed a Hooter’s restaurant, moved pianos for a living, and was involved with the New York Jets (as a DJ, mind you, but involved nonetheless).

Enzo also studied journalism of all things during his time at Salisbury University in Maryland. That didn’t necessarily translate to a career though.

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8 Neither Did Cass

via wrestlingrumors.net

Cass, on the other hand, has a much lengthier history in the squared circle. He once wrestled for World of Unpredictable Wrestling or WUW before moving on to Florida Championship Wrestling or FCW, the precursor of NXT. By 2011, the Colin Cassady moniker was born. Cass stuck around until FCW morphed into NXT. With a history like that, it seems that Cass was always destined to be a wrestling star, right?

Not so much. Cass was actually studying to become a doctor. Torn between two careers he loved and wanted, Cass decided that wrestling was what he truly wanted to do, and so he set out to achieve his dreams.

7 In Fact, He Was a Businessman...Sort of

via allwrestling.net

It’s hard to make it out there in the Big Apple, and few people know that as well as Cass. That’s why, years before he became a wrestler, while he was learning his craft, Cass made some extra cash on the side reselling tickets to concerts, sports games, and other shows at Madison Square Garden. He referred to this as his business. Cass was like StubHub before StubHub even existed.

6 Those Strong Accents Are Totally Real

via cagesideseats.com

At first glance, it seems easy to assume that Enzo and Cass are just really big fans of Jersey Shore or The Godfather or other media that appropriates New Jerseyians. However, Enzo’s not faking it; he’s from Hackensack, New Jersey. As for Cass? Just look at his old trunks. That love of Queens isn’t just character schtick. He really hails from that part of New York.

5 John Cena Approves Enzo

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It takes a lot to impress John Cena, but the man certainly knows talent when he sees it. It’s no wonder than Enzo Amore caught his eye, then, and his ears. According to reports, Cena happened to be around when Enzo was cutting one of his crowd-mesmerizing NXT promos and loved it, just like the majority of fans do. He even vouched for Enzo, asking him to get a push.

4 Their Tag Team Finisher Came About Naturally

via wwe.com

The Doomsday Device, The 3D, even The Fall of Man... tag team finishers are unfortunately few and far between, and memorable tag finishers are even rarer. While there were times when Enzo himself didn’t even have a solo finisher, he and Cass have always ended their opponents with The Bada Boom Shakalaka.

How did they think of it? Well, they didn’t, not alone. NXT staff helped. Enzo and Cass drew inspiration from The Fabulous Freebirds, The Rockers, and other tag teams of yore, which has helped make them the tour de force they are today.

3 They Have a Unique Name for Their Heel/Face Status

via wwe.com

Just like in comic books, some wrestlers are good guys, and others are bad guys. This is common sense stuff, with the heroes being called faces and the villains heels. Leave it to Enzo and Cass to redefine these ancient wrestling terms, as they’ve come to affectionately call themselves “character heels.”

Okay, so what’s a character heel, you ask? Well, Enzo wasn’t super clear, but when he and Cass chatted with Stone Cold on his podcast this year, Enzo said that “if you don’t go into every situation trying to see exactly how much you can get away with, you’ll never realize how truly brilliant life is.”

2 Cass Was Happy (but Not Too Happy) to Have Time on His Own

via wrestlenewz.com

What always seems to happen with WWE tag teams? A rift forms, the two friends split apart, and then they feud. They may reunite again down the road or just pretend the other doesn’t exist. It’s surprising then, given that Enzo has had several injuries since forming a team with Cass, that they weren’t split up for good.

Cass has gone on the record saying he was pleased to strike out on his own. There’s no bad blood between him and Enzo; quite the opposite, really. However, the two hardly had solo careers before becoming a team, so you can’t blame the man for being curious what it’d be like. Luckily though, both Cass and Enzo are glad to be on the same side again.

1 The Two Have Known Each Other Since High School

With all the great tag teams in the history of wrestling, the two athletes have always been friends both on-screen and off. Just look at The Legion of Doom, The APA, or The New Day. These guys are buddies, and their goofing off and joking around translates into natural and instant chemistry. For Enzo and Cass, it’s no different.

Obviously they didn’t grow up together, but the two were first introduced when playing a basketball game in New York City. They were just kids at the time, and although they hit it off, they went on with their separate lives. We don’t know if they kept in touch, but it seems almost serendipitous that they’d reconnect after both being signed to NXT.